Resource consent conditions

We monitor resource consents to make sure any conditions are being met, and to check on environmental effects. Understanding your compliance obligations will help your project run smoothly.

How consent monitoring works

If the conditions of your resource consent require inspection by a monitoring or planning officer, they will visit the site and check compliance with the consent. If the site check confirms compliance, you will be issued a performance certificate stating that the building or site can be occupied and the activity can begin.

If monitoring is required, you will have paid a monitoring fee when the consent was issued. For any subsequent monitoring of the conditions of this consent, the fee charged will be the fee applicable at the time of monitoring, and will be charged on each additional site check or hour of work undertaken until full compliance with consent conditions is achieved.

Why we monitor

Resource consent conditions are set with the aim of reducing any potential adverse effects created from your activity, and to protect or enhance the environment.

Under the Resource Management Act 1991, Councils have to monitor the exercise of resource consents, compliance with conditions of the consents and the impact on the environment.

Once you get consent you enter into a formal contractual relationship with Council on behalf of the ratepayers of Palmerston North, who expect us to monitor and check compliance on their behalf.

Examples of consent conditions

Consent conditions could include things like landscaping, providing car parks, requirements for you to measure noise levels or to give us information at a certain time.

There may be actions you have to take before you can start developing, like paying a bond to cover the estimated value of reinstatement work before relocating a house.

There could also be actions you have to take before a building or a site can be occupied, like forming, sealing and marking a car parking area, or building a tall fence. These types of conditions will usually be followed by others covering the ongoing operation of a proposal, like restricting operating hours or setting noise limits.

Can conditions be imposed?

Yes, you can be granted resource consent that requires you to undertake works or provide evidence that works have been completed, such as providing on-site car parks.

What it costs

There is a $330 monitoring fee for a non-notified resource consent or $660 for a limited or fully notified consent at the time a resource consent is granted. This covers the cost of monitoring your compliance with the conditions. There is also the cost of officer time spent on compliance matters.

Extra charges if you don’t meet the consent conditions

Additional monitoring charges will apply if you don't meet the conditions of consent, creating the need for extra site visits and inspections.

The consent holder will need to pay a further fee for the third and any subsequent monitoring inspections if any non-compliance with the conditions of the consent are discovered as a result of monitoring. This fee is set in accordance with Section 36(1)(c) of the Resource Management Act 1991 and Section 690A of the Local Government Act 1974.

Currently the monitoring fee is $165 per inspection (including GST). This may change if fees are reviewed. The monitoring fee charged will be the fee applicable at the time of monitoring, and will be charged on each additional inspection necessary until full compliance with consent conditions is achieved.

What happens if you can’t comply with the consent conditions

Contact us. We are keen to work alongside you to resolve any difficulties that may arise.

The Resource Management Act 1991 grants Councils a number of enforcement mechanisms to deal with non-compliance, including infringement and abatement notices, enforcement orders and prosecution. We will use any of these we consider appropriate.

The maximum fine under the Resource Management Act 1991 is $200,000 or imprisonment for up to two years. If the offence continues, a fine of $10,000 per day may be imposed for every day the offence continues. Apart from any fine, you may be required to contribute to or pay all of the costs of enforcement action taken.